


kangteuk | enlistment day

by plincess_cho (ai_hao)



Series: Fic Requests [80]
Category: Super Junior
Genre: Author: Ai, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-16
Updated: 2016-02-16
Packaged: 2018-05-20 23:16:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 681
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6029044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ai_hao/pseuds/plincess_cho
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kangin and Leeteuk send Eunhyuk off to the military.</p>
            </blockquote>





	kangteuk | enlistment day

**Author's Note:**

> Dialogue Prompt: Kangteuk: "I need you in my life, now and forever."

Eunhyuk’s enlistment hits them harder than they had expected. Leeteuk hugs him tightly and feels the tension in his body. 

“It’s okay to be alright, isn’t it?” Eunhyuk whispers.

“Yes,” Leeteuk replies, his voice cracking. He lets his arms drop and gently pushes Eunhyuk over to Kangin.

Kangin holds him close and rubs a hand over Eunhyuk’s shaved head. “It looks good,” he says. “You’ll do well.”

“How do you know?” Eunhyuk replies.

“You’re one of ours,” Kangin replies. 

They walk with him to the gate amongst all the other parents with their recruits. Leeteuk’s heart swells with pride as Eunhyuk stands back and gives him a proper salute. “I’ll see you soon,” he says. 

“Fighting,” Leeteuk replies. He turns away to blink back the tears in his eyes before they fall. That’s the last thing Eunhyuk needed to see. Donghae had stayed home for that exact reason: they’d said their goodbyes that morning and cried until they’d drowned the Korean Peninsula in their tears.

Kangin gives him one last hug and then he’s off. Eunhyuk disappears into the sea of skinny boys with shaved heads as Kangin waves goodbye.

“C’mon, Teuk,” Kangin says, putting his arm around Leeteuk’s shaking shoulders. “Let’s go home.”

*

They go to Leeteuk’s apartment, because Kangin’s is a mess per usual. Leeteuk’s is immaculate, partially because he’s much neater and partially because he hasn’t been home in days. Maybe even weeks. Kangin’s worried that he’s spreading himself too thin.

Leeteuk cooks. He makes the pasta dish he’d made with Eunhyuk and Donghae when they were in Switzerland and tries not to think about the two of them. He’s leaving for Switzerland again tomorrow and wonders if it will be the same.

It won’t.

“Do you remember when I enlisted?” Kangin asks suddenly.

“How could I forget?” Leeteuk replies softly. “They lined us all up like we were in front of a firing squad. Heechul had that hideous hair, Kyuhyun was fresh out of the hospital, and Sungmin didn’t speak again for another week.”

“There were a lot of tears that day,” Kangin says. “Everyone cried.” He pauses and then looks up at Leeteuk. “Except for you.”

Leeteuk looks up from his pasta. “What?”

“Even Kyuhyun cried,” Kangin continues, “but you didn’t.”

Leeteuk sets down his chopsticks. “You’re right,” he replies. “I didn’t. I _couldn’t.”_

“You were still mad at me,” Kangin drops his eyes down. Leeteuk can’t help but think he looks like a puppy with its tail between its legs, waiting for punishment to arrive.

“No,” Leeteuk says gently. “I couldn’t cry because I had to stay strong for the others. They were so young and scared, Youngwoon. They didn’t know what was going to happen to you, to them, to _us._  None of us wanted to think about enlistment.”

“I know,” Kangin replies, his voice softening. He’d always known. 

They eat their pasta in silence until Leeteuk asks, “Do you remember the day you came home?”

“Yes,” Kangin replies. “Everyone asked why I hadn’t lost weight in the military.”

“Consider that a good thing,” Leeteuk replies with a smile.

“And I remember you hugging me and telling me, ‘Don’t forget, Youngwoon. I need you in my life, now and forever’,” Kangin says, his voice cracking a little.

“I meant it then, and I meant it now,” Leeteuk replies. He looks down quickly at his pasta and wonders if he’d added extra salt.

Kangin remembers that day. He remembers his stomach tying itself into knots of anxiety as he waited to walk out and see his members. He’d wondered if they’d forgiven him, if they still wanted him, if Leeteuk still needed him. 

And with that one embrace and one simple phrase, all of his worries had melted away. He’d come home.

*

After dinner, they sit out on Leeteuk’s porch and look out at the street below. There isn’t much of a view, but they don’t care. They listen to the sounds of the night and look up at the moon.

“He’ll do well, won’t he?” Kangin asks.

“Yes,” Leeteuk replies. “I believe he will.”


End file.
